Henry Bolton’s proposed Constitutional ‘reform’

On February 13th 2018, the Leader has published an attractively-presented new Draft Constitution, which has been sent out to all members for whom the party has email addresses. I should point out that this draft and ‘consultation’ has not been discussed with or presented to the NEC, so is an informal process at best.

No doubt there will be an opportunity for members not on email/Internet to examine it shortly, in hard copy, and Henry will let us know how to respond to his three-week ‘consultation’, and to whom. Obviously, no consultation can be valid if a quarter to a third of members have no access to it.

I have had a chance to look through the new Draft Constitution and, as someone who was elected to represent the members’ interests on the NEC (with almost as many votes as Henry got, in a field of 91 candidates, rather than seven), I find the tone of this proposed ‘reform’ quite chilling.

More power for Leader, less for members

As expected, it seeks to remove power from the NEC and give full control of the party to Mr Bolton and a Board of his appointees.

This has been espoused by Nigel in recent years; though his other idea, for a ‘5-Star style’ party in which the members drive policy through direct democracy, is notably absent. I was never sure how these two ideas – the concentration of power away from members and into the hands of the Leader, and the provision of greater member democracy – could be made compatible; and of course, they can’t.

No longer a libertarian party

The first thing that strikes one on reading the draft is that the word ‘libertarian’ has been removed from the party’s definition of itself. Some members may like that; many, I imagine, will be appalled.

Of particular interest is the new para 4.1, which places the Leader, rather than the NEC, in full charge of the organisation of the party and its structures.

In the current draft, Mr Bolton provides himself with a new personal power or veto in paragraphs 4.2, 7.3, 7.4, 9.1, 10.1, 10.5, 11.1, 11.2, 13.2, 13.3, 14.4, 14.6, 16.1, 17.4, 23.11, 28.2, 29.1, 32.1, 34.1, 36.2, 36.7. 36.8, 39.1, 39.2, 43.2, 51.1. (I may have missed one or two, but you get the idea.)

Massive new powers for the Leader

This wholesale power-shift provides the Leader with personal control over who can be a member, the level of subscription, organising the party structure, organising special conferences and EGMs, how much to charge branches for EGMs, appointment of party officers, appointment of ‘interim NEC members’, appointments of the Party Treasurer, Party Secretary, General Secretary, Deputy General Secretary, National Nominating Officer, Deputy Leader (who will automatically become Leader if he is unavailable), sub-committees acting with the delegated authority of the Leader, plus removal of party officers, all aspects of policy and political organisation, appointment of the Party Cabinet, and the power to make any appointment he sees fit (including his new Chief of Staff).

Clamping down on dissent

More concerning, however, is 10.3, in which a new disciplinary offence is created: Activity ‘liable to undermine the cohesion and unity of the Party’. This Stalinist measure will allow the Party Leader to exercise an iron discipline over anyone who dissents; and since dissent is the Ukipper’s raison d’etre – and is surely the point of any political party – I am not sure that is entirely healthy.

Under 13.2, no longer will Party Conference motions be considered by the NEC, but by the Leader-appointed Board.

Under 16.1, the same Leader and Board will be making the Rules, rather than the NEC.

In 46.1, we see that a new Disciplinary Committee is set up (presumably to hear all the cases of Ukippers ‘liable to undermine the cohesion and unity of the party’), comprising two Leader appointees, a member of paid staff (appointed by the Leader or his Board) and – glory be – one NEC member.

But perhaps the most intriguing thing is that under 36.8, the Party Leader may be a full time employee of the Party. Since the employment and management of staff has been removed from the NEC’s authority, and that employment will be controlled by the Leader’s appointees, might some conflict of interest arise there?

Members’ representatives neutered

Overall, this is a fairly simple ‘reform’, aimed at concentrating power in the hands of the Leader. The NEC will be comprised of elected Regional Chairmen, but will have no decision-making power other than ‘ensuring that decisions made by the party are made in a transparent and accountable manner’ – which since it no longer will be making them, may prove difficult.

Members voting for this – if they have had a chance to read it before voting for it in the extremely rapid timescale laid down (in part, not even allowing the minimum time laid down in the current Constitution) – would be turkeys voting for Christmas.

The NEC is imperfect, and in need of reform. It is, however, the only means by which ordinary members exercise control over the party and its Leader.

The NEC was created – by Nigel, ironically – specifically to prevent a Leader having autocratic powers.

Reform the NEC by all means – the current NEC will willingly help you, and consult you properly. But lose it at your peril!

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I look forward to Henry taking UKIP forward and hope he gets rid of those that have been holding us back for so long…as Nigel has said reform or die!

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Lenin had a description for this type of party constitution: he called it democratic centralism and it was put into practice with by Soviet Union and its satellites.

In a democracy any party taking power and control wholesale to the centre is asking for the party to die.

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I would never join UKIP at the moment, so how will UKIP attract new members. Which is more important at the moment. Is it backing Henry Bolton and hopefully UKIP will have a positive vision for Great Britain or is the alternative to go through several more months of what has been described as naval gazing. At the end of that period there might be fewer members, or will there be fewer members iff Henry Bolton remains the leader. Regarding the proposed constitution change I will vote for NO change to the present constitution. I personally regard the discussion of… Read more »

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Thank you Steve Crowther for your very helpful analysis of Henry’s proposed constitution. You have helped me make my mind up as to which way to vote on Saturday.

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Briefly, but relating to the original post: “The first thing that strikes one on reading the draft is that the word ‘libertarian’ has been removed from the party’s definition of itself. Some members may like that; many, I imagine, will be appalled.” ‘Libertarian’ is a catch-all description of politics which is largely coloured by the Usian far right. Small state, no tax, no welfare state, pull yourself together and stop snivelling freedom lovers all. Yes, you’ll now say that we don’t mean that when we say that’s where we’re going: our libertarianism is something different, no more PC, more freedom… Read more »

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Briefly, but relating to the original post: “The first thing that strikes one on reading the draft is that the word ‘libertarian’ has been removed from the party’s definition of itself. Some members may like that; many, I imagine, will be appalled.” ‘Libertarian’ is a catch-all description of politics which is largely coloured by the Usian far right. Small state, no tax, no welfare state, pull yourself together and stop snivelling freedom lovers all. Yes, you’ll now say that we don’t mean that when we say that’s where we’re going: our libertarianism is something different, cuddlier, no more PC, more… Read more »

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“The NEC is imperfect, and in need of reform. It is, however, the only means by which ordinary members exercise control over the party and its Leader. ”
Who controls the NEC? Themselves, of course. Perfect!

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They control each other at meetings by debate and voting. Rather better surely than Bolton’s new constitution which concentrates power in the leader with no control over him by anyone.

Allen fails to explain why having an Ayatollah, a supreme leader, is desirable.

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‘Allen fails to explain why having an Ayatollah, a supreme leader, is desirable.’

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The MEMBERS control the NEC, by voting them off if necessary. It was MEMBERS who requested the vote of no confidence, and it will be MEMBERS, who, God willing, remove Henry.

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Exactly! My experience with the NEC is negative. To keep it short they don’t respond to any communications and are for the most uncontactable e.g. there are no contact details for any of them on the UKIP site. The NEC are in my opinion controlled by a few senior figures in UKIP. These few through the smoke screen of the NEC have shown many times they are incompetent at running the party.

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I can only assume that the author has an uncertain grasp of history and the actions of Joseph Stalin. To compare a British politician with a mass murderer smacks of desperation. It’s often said that the idiot who mentions Hitler in a debate has alreay lost; well, that also applies to mentioning Stalin. Why one lot of semi elected unqualifoed people should have the last say instead of a leader elected in a much more forensic election process, is simply self-serving. Steve says I want to keep power instead of the leader. Well, perhaps not, after all the leader carries… Read more »

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H Bolton might want a new constitution but what do I need? I need to feel, as s grassroots member, that I am a part of a professional organisation that connects with its members and will listen to its members. I, like other members, are losing interest in the internal UKIP politics and UKIP’s lack of vision for the UK’s future. I am close to saying “UKIP, you lack Vision For the Future of Britain” so why should I remain a UKIP member. At the moment a future vision for the UK is more important than the constitution. Possible constitution… Read more »

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Indeed. The purpose of proposing a highly divisive rearrangement of chairs on the deck of the Titanic at a time when the ship is sinking can only be subversion and sabotage. And if it is one thing about Bolton’s career I believe is that he has been highly trained in those two subjects through his work for OSCE and other European and international establishment institutions.

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I would have liked to see a vote for the EGM to go out to all members as a postal vote. We had a postal vote to elect the last leader so it should be considered as an alternative to travelling miles to vote. I did not read the proposals as at present Henry has had a vote of no confidence and until that is settled there is no point. Having said that from this post it seems a bit extreme and would not be an easy task. The main issue is to retain members and recruit new members not… Read more »

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Unfortunately, the 2012 constitution, backed by Nigel “In our view – a view supported by the current Leader – a strong NEC enables a strong Leader to flourish.” requires physical attendance, in case Henry makes a brilliant speech of defence on the day.

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I agree. Indeed, in my view, a full ballot with the ability to opt into voting electronically would be even better (if adequate security of e-voting could be ensured, which is a big issue and the reason I had strong reservations about implementing e-voting in the way that was on the table when I was on the NEC technology sub-committee). A vote of all the members would be a lot more credible and harder to try to manipulate than that of a few hundred members attending an EGM. Unfortunately, the Constitution is prescriptive, and it has to be done at… Read more »

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I have no confidence in the NEC. A new change in the “rules” accepted by them allows members to announce they intend to stand for election as officers of a branch NOT in advance but at the AGM! This results in a form of “gerrymandering” whereby they can turn up at the AGM with their “supporters” and take control. All the members of branches need to know in advance who intends to stand so they themselves can decide. This is just one example for the inept NECs decision making ability.

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Just a hunch I have, that Bolton isn’t working alone. Or is that really just obvious? Let’s hope he gets well and truly kicked out on Saturday but then, watch where he goes and where he earns his next salary, I believe that will answer a lot of questions.

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If Henry has clever allies, Russell, why would they not trouble to proof read his constitution? Or do they want him to fail?

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I agree. Or what honours and gongs he receives. Of course, it won’t necessarily be done overtly and perhaps his links to the European Commission, OSCE, the Liberal Democrat Party and his continued membership of the National Liberal Club will be the only kinds of clues we will be able to get and go by.

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‘Where he earns his next salary’ ?? I don’t believe he has any chance whatever of gainful employment. Or self~employment as some sort of ‘Consultant’ Who on earth would wish to employ, or seek consultancy advice, from someone who has shown such egregious lack of JUDGMENT in both his personal and his political affairs ? I surmise that he knows full well that unless he miraculously clings to his post on Saturday he is staring poverty full in the face. His wife, remember, had to be dispatched to a foreign country to work as a senior secretary to bring in… Read more »

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‘Where he earns his next salary’ ??
Oh come on Rhys what about all that experience and those wonderful qualifications plus he has an OBE …… Oh wait a minute didn’t Mr Bav of this parish prove most of those to be suspect.

I think most District Councils have vacancies for Bin Collectors, should be right up his street!

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The leader’s recent email to members shows where IMHO his priorities lie, with himself. The leader knew there wasn’t a salary when he stood as a leadership candidate, yet he’s been touring the branches, at the party’s expense, collecting thousands as he passes GO. He’s refused to step down, even as he continues to makes the party a ‘laughing stock’ by telling the media of (i) his ongoing ‘feelings’ for his ‘girlfriend’ (who the media now regularly tag as a ‘racist’), (ii) that it’s losing money and members and (iii) that he’s quite good at badger strangling! Some weeks ago… Read more »

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Mr Allen, is your purpose to persuade? The absence of reasoning and ad hominem comments you make across several articles suggests not. In that case, you only come on here to be abusive but the disrespect to the volunteers who run UKIP Daily, and to its readers who make intelligent and reasoned comment that implies is itself an abuse. We are fully aware of your support for Bolton and no-one has been impressed by your nastiness toward people who take a different view to you. You describe yourself as a “UKIP Cabinet Member”. Bringing some dignity to that position is… Read more »

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We should all remember – and Paul Oakden, or whoever is chairing the EGM, must re-iterate that we are NOT voting on a new constitution. We already have proposals that were drafted for Paul Nuttall – Gerard I would hope would encourage both to be analysed as part of the redrafting work but in a post Bolton democracy I feel confident all clauses that lead to dictatorship will be ignored and ‘libertarian’will stay. methinks he’s spent too much time in the EU – or the TWO Russian wives were fans of a fan of the role of the Douma as… Read more »

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If Henry Bolton retains his position (and indeed, his membership) in UKIP I foresee that UKIP will soon become a party of ‘One’! The man is a dangerous megalomaniac in the making! Democracy ‘R’ not Henry Bolton!

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Agreed, Henry Bolton’s new draft “constitution” is self-serving and barely literate. The more I read the more “chilling” as SC says, HB’s efforts appear.

There are so many mistakes I assume that HB’s new constitution has been written in haste; and recently at that. It reads almost like a wish-list that HB needs to protect himself in his current predicament, rather than a considered long term revision. So how much work had he done on the constitution before the vote of no confidence? Precious little it seems. Which for an avowed administrator is rather odd.

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Every document I have received from him has contained grammar and spelling mistakes.

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Sounds like he is following in the footsteps of the Tory Party HQ, which also wishes to remove more power (if indeed not all) from its ordinary members and local associations. Add that to Momentum’s desires for removal of “moderate” Labour MPs and we will have a country where the population is utterly disconnected from all political selections. What that will lead to, I hate to think.

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Thank you Steve for this. “Stalinist” I think is the right word to describe Bolton’s stab at taking total power. What is deeply saddening is that Nigel has nailed his own colours so firmly to Bolton’s mast. He did such a lot to dispel the idea that UKIP was the “BNP in blazers”, banning any former BNP member from ever joining, smearing Anne-Marie Waters most unjustly as a “racist” who would have destroyed UKIP (this deliberately confuses race and religion)… and now here he is supporting a man who is openly sending a Valentine card to a real racist. She… Read more »

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Please no! For all Henry’s faults, convicting him as a closet racist in the court of your own opinion is a very slippery slope indeed.

“… can surely be classed as a closet racist.”

David Cameron’s manipulative mud-slinging “proved right”.

Honestly, I find it incomprehensible why anyone would vote Labour under the current leadership, but if an attractive and willing lefty who was half my age offered me warmth and comfort (ahem), then I might wish to partake of her generosity without in any way condoning the IRA or Hamas.

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Bolton either privately shares Marney’s Nazi-type views (and why isn’t she in the BNP?), in which case he is a “closet racist”. Or he thinks they do not matter, since she is “only a female”, in which case he really is a prehistoric male chauvinist.

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Dear Torquil Dick-Erikson, I echo your thanks to Steve for this informative article. I am very glad that Steve Crowther cared enough to take the time to read and summarise Henry’s proposed constitution and wrote about it here. Thank you Steve. I did not join UKIP because it has the word libertarian in its constitution. This is, however, the single deepest reason I have remained with the party since I joined. To put it differently I could not join either major party because the Conservatives run roughshod over liberty even while conveying a notional sympathy for it while Labour merely… Read more »

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Indeed, Aidan, I share your views on libertarianism and its role in UKIP.

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Members will not want to concentrate power in anyone’s sole hands let alone in the hands of a petty bureaucrat with an Ayatollah complex. A new offence of ‘liable to undermine the cohesion and unity of the party’ is particularly sinister. Its terms are so imprecise that the leader, via his appointees, can use them to silence of expel legitimate political opponents. And concentration of power almost certainly leads to abuse at some point. The proposed constitution is a dictator’s charter. The constitution, a document with legal effect that can be reviewed and adjudicated upon in the high court through… Read more »

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The main problem with the composition of the NEC is that the election procedure ( as laid down, I assume, by the NEC ? ) simply does not permit candidates ( because of the the 150 word limit ) to fully present themselves ~their career path to date, academic and other qualifications, ideas as to policy etc., to the party’s electorate : the members. Reforming that ~ eg by allowing candidates 2 x A4 pages each and / or having a dedicated website where all this info could be presented for each candidate, would go a long way towards remedying… Read more »

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I have already partially resolved this: BB of the rulebook, implementing electronic voting, means that each candidate has, within reason, unlimited space for plugging their website, videos etc. The only practical limit, once you click on “more details” by the candidte’s name, is how much they are willing to read.

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Dear rhys, I believe you are absolutely right that the 150 word limit to the NEC election address should be reformed. The mandatory confinement of the NEC candidate pitch to the party magazine compounds the error. In the last leadership election at my interview by the selection board I made your argument but without effect. At the very least I think the party could organise an electronic election address (by e-mai)l of greater length. As Steve Crowther points out an electronic address could only reach 70% but I suspect that 30% do not read the party newspaper (even at election… Read more »

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The 150 word limit could easily be changed by a resolution of the NEC (and should be, in my opinion). Other options should be explored (e.g. allowing candidates to submit a short video, etc. etc. – who knows what is right). NEC elections should be conducted in a way which allows the members to get to know the candidates better. Regionalising the NEC would require constitutional change, and in my view is not a good idea. The different size of the regions (and the under-representation of the larger regions) is not the only problem, although it is a problem and… Read more »

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On February 14 around the year 278A.D., Valentine, a holy priest in Rome in the days of Emperor Claudius II, was executed. Under the rule of Claudius the Cruel, Rome was involved in many unsuccessful and bloody campaigns. The emperor had to maintain an army, but was having a hard time getting soldiers to join his military leagues and losing troops by the day. Claudius believed his policies were not at fault and that Roman men were unwilling to join the army because of their strong attachment to their Senators, wives and families. To get rid of the problem, Claudius… Read more »

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Did you intend this as a parable Bav? After all the good lady has described herself as a hot rockstar f*er. Well I know that they’re all taught about safe sex whilst they still believe in the tooth fairy these days but anyone can forget in the – er – heat of the moment.
And my little friends from the lab are soooo clever when it comes to learning how to protect themselves from our nasty antibiotics. Three cheers for our knight in shining armour – Treponema pallidum, do your worst my poxy friend!

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It is indeed a parable PPM ! However the pox that killed Claudius II was Variola major….As for tooth fairies, I understand that they now pay at the inflated rate of £10 a pop, which explains why our glorious leader Roderick Spode is missing most of his at the front. It saves him borrowing from his girlfriend….

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Hopefully this will finish off any chance of his winning the vote at the EGM.

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No danger of it passing Steve – even if 20 branches passed “draft 2”, all it would take is one member, from one of those 20, to complain that “draft 3” wasn’t what his branch had passed, and the courts would have a heyday.

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Dear Rob, In matters of interpreting the constitution of a political party the courts mayl tend toward reluctance to take a view. In defence of this annotation I mention that when Henry Bolton took legal counsel as to the lawfulness of UKIP allowing Anne-Marie Waters to stand one legal counsel provided argued that the courts would consider this an internal matter for the party to resolve. Whether or not this aspect of the counsel contributed to Henry’s decision not to force this issue, in matters of internal party politics relying on justice to come to the rescue if push comes… Read more »

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Any attempt to criticize the sainted Mr Bolton on Twitter is met with a torrent of abuse that goes on for hours, Aidan.
The outcome is by no means in the bag imo.

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Indeed, the outcome is not.

I am reliably informed that the Party Chairman recently reported that most Regional Chairmen report widespread support for Henry within their territories; indeed, some of them have directly told me the same thing.

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There is a more sinister explanation; the key is in this draft Constitution…

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3 months ago

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